Board Members
An engaged Board of Directors and dedicated Volunteer Committees oversee all JMLT activities. Learn more about getting involved.
Arthur
Bart-Williams
Chair
Arthur Bart-Williams is the Executive Director of the Bay Area affiliate of GRID Alternatives whose mission is to build community-powered solutions to advance economic and environmental justice through renewable energy. GRID works to simultaneously help slow global warming, create jobs, and alleviate poverty through no cost installations for renewable energy solutions and workforce development in underserved communities. Arthur’s career includes construction management, program/project/product management, and entrepreneurship in several industries including infrastructure, education, transportation, energy, health, government, and hospitality. He has been responsible for duties ranging from fundraising and business development through implementation. He earned a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and is a Bay Area resident with his wife and their three daughters.
Stephanie
Becker
Vice Chair
Stephanie Becker is a 6th generation native Bay Area Californian. She grew up exploring the open spaces of Contra Costa and Alameda Counties where her family’s love of nature and outdoor recreation were deeply-held values. Stephanie and husband Damon now reside in Moraga and were drawn to the semi-rural beauty of the area and its numerous hiking trails, natural wildlife and recreational opportunities. An active volunteer, Stephanie is Co-President of the Moraga Education Foundation and was previously President of the Moraga Junior Women’s Club and the Camino Pablo Elementary School PTA. A graduate of Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, Stephanie has over 20 years of corporate compliance experience in the financial services industry. Stephanie believes all children should have a strong connection to the outdoors and that preserving land for future generations is vitally important. She, Damon, and their two children Jack and Amelia relish the fresh mountain air at their vacation home on Donner Summit where they also support the Truckee Donner Land Trust in its mission to protect thousands of acres in the Sierras. They enjoy hiking, skiing, mountain biking, and traveling.
Karen
Sakata
Secretary
Karen Sakata, former Superintendent for the Contra Costa County Office of Education, has worked in education for over 40 years. Karen has an affinity for and a "special place in her heart" for students with challenges. Believing the goal of public education is to find and build upon the strengths of every student, she has worked as a Speech Language Pathologist, Resource Specialist-Auditory Processing, Early Childhood Specialist, Program Specialist, Research Assistant, Program Administrator, Elementary Principal, Associate Superintendent, and Deputy Superintendent for three County Offices and one large urban school district. Karen is actively involved in professional organizations such as the California Speech Language and Hearing Association (CSHA) and the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA). She has been Director Region 3 of CSHA, president of the Diablo Managers Association for the Mt. Diablo Unified School District ACSA Charter, and Vice President-Programs and President for ACSA Region 6. She served as Vice President-Legislative Action for ACSA Region 6 which represents Contra Costa and Alameda Counties. Karen was the first Asian American Administrator in the Mt. Diablo Unified School District and the first Cabinet level administrator in the Contra Costa County Office of Education. She received the ACSA Region 6 Central Office Administrator of the Year award (AOY) 2014. Karen is a third generation Japanese-American, Sansei. Her parents, graduates of UC Berkeley and USC were interned during World War II in relocation/concentration camps. Karen resides in Alamo with her husband, Shima. She has two sons: Scott, an optometrist, and Kurt, who graduated in animal sciences from UC Davis and manages a veterinary hospital. Both were graduates of Monte Vista High in Danville. Karen's hobbies include coaching basketball and playing taiko, Japanese big drums. Karen received her BA from the University of California, Berkeley in Psychology and her MA from San Jose State University in Speech Pathology.
Bill
Wadsworth
Treasurer
The enjoyment of nature has been a constant in Bill Wadsworth’s life. Before the Sun Valley Mall and freeways were built, the grassy, oak-studded fields and hillsides in Pleasant Hill were a daily playground for Bill and his friends. He graduated from UC Davis and met his wife, Ginger, there. Ginger introduced him to the desert in eastern San Diego County where, for some 50 years, they have spent countless hours exploring Anza-Borrego Desert State Park that surrounds the isolated cabin they ultimately bought.
After many years as chief financial officer at a handful of Bay Area engineering companies, Bill now consults part-time. This gives him more time to enjoy gardening, reading, hiking, golf, and his volunteer interests. He also assists researching, editing, and promoting Ginger’s award-winning biographies and nature/environmental-related books for young readers. They both have been active volunteers in the Lamorinda area where, among other things, Bill served in many capacities on the board of the Orinda Park and Recreation Foundation. They walk their dogs often on nearby trails or open space and now live in Moraga.
Bill started his involvement with JMLT on the Audit Committee, “graduated” to the Finance Committee, and now is in his final term on the board of directors having served as the organization’s treasurer for the last few years.
Katie
Hill
Immediate Past Chair
Katie grew up in New York State at the edge of the Adirondack Park where a love of nature and the outdoors were basic family values. After a liberal arts education at Williams College during the early days of coeducation, she moved to California. Katie has over 30 years of corporate marketing experience in positions that range from building grassroots projects for technology startups to her current position managing global programs and marketing partnerships for software giant SAP. She has been a volunteer coordinator for JMLT and a member of the Engagement Committee, bringing expertise in marketing strategy, communications and events. Katie and her husband Scott Compton live in Briones where they harvest rainwater and raise a few goats and sheep when they are not hiking in the surrounding hills. They have two grown children, Jeff and Helen.
Jan
Berckefeldt
Jan Berckefeldt has more than forty years’ experience in the non-profit field, with areas of expertise in financial, personnel and volunteer management, fundraising, and community and government relations. She has held top positions as Executive Director, Chief Financial Officer, and Director of Development. As Regional Director for the Pacific Northwest’s leading capital campaign consulting firm, Jan managed multi-million dollar campaigns for museums, hospitals, theatres, social service organizations, and educational institutions. She conducted feasibility studies, needs assessments, development audits, and created organizational positioning strategies. She is a principal trainer for board and volunteer development and fundraising skill building. Nearly half of Jan’s career has focused on service to public-private partnerships for museums, parks and wildlife conservation organizations. She recently headed and completed the $22 million campaign for the restoration of the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. She is President Emeritus of the Board of the California Historical Society. Jan holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California.
Jan descended from two of California's pioneer ranching families. The ranch she grew up on, Osage Ranch, was located in Danville and San Ramon, on both sides of what is now the 680 Freeway. Walnut Creek ran through the ranch. And, it was that water that prompted her great-grandfather, R.O. Baldwin, to buy a portion of the Spanish Land Grant. As a kid, Jan played in the creek, and her Mother learned to swim in it. Jan’s uncle, Congressman John F. Baldwin sponsored the Federal legislation to make John Muir's former home in Martinez a National Historic Site.
Daniel R.
Carl
As vice president, general counsel and secretary, Dan Carl was responsible for overseeing all legal affairs for Sybase, Inc. Dan joined Sybase, Inc. as Corporate Counsel, became Associate General Counsel and upon being promoted to Vice President moved to the UK to direct European legal affairs. Mr. Carl returned to the United States to become general counsel for the company and retired in 2012 after Sybase, Inc. was acquired by SAP. Before joining Sybase, Inc., Mr. Carl practiced corporate law with Berg, Ziegler, Lichtman & Anderson and Horwich & Warner, both San Francisco law firms as well as with Gray, Cary, Ames & Frye in San Diego. In private practice, Mr. Carl represented clients in various business transactions in the areas of intellectual property, software licensing and distribution, real estate, venture capital and securities. Dan and his wife Allyn have lived in Moraga since 1991, raising two daughters there. Allyn and he have been supporters of the John Muir Land Trust since 2016 when they were introduced to the JMLT through the Carr Ranch campaign. Dan was born in Portland, Oregon and is a graduate of Stanford University and the University of California's Hastings College of the Law.
Jack
Cortis
Jack had a career in the financial services industry and most recently was Regional President of the wealth management group in San Francisco and Seattle for a major New York-headquartered bank. He has deep experience with non-profits as a member of the boards of Seattle Repertory Theatre, United Way of King County (Seattle), and American Conservatory Theatre (ACT) in San Francisco, where he held the position of Board Chair. Jack is an avid Master Gardener and past president of the Contra Costa chapter. After college, Jack served aboard the U.S.S. Forrestal as a U.S. Naval Intelligence Officer. He is a graduate of Loyola University of Maryland and received an M.B.A. from Golden Gate University, San Francisco. Jack is co-founder of Family Harvest Farm, a program that employs transition-age foster youth. Jack loves the mission of JMLT and believes the goal of permanently protecting land in the East Bay is of critical importance for future generations. He has hiked extensively in the High Sierra and Grand Canyon, where he led treks for Moraga’s Boy Scout Troop 212. An avid fly fisherman, he knows well the rivers surrounding Mt. Shasta, as well as the Pacific surf near Half Moon Bay. Jack and his wife, Susan, raised their family in Moraga for 20 years. They currently reside in Orinda.
Stephen
Harvey
Steve Harvey was born in San Francisco and raised in San Mateo. Watching the construction of the San Mateo-Hayward bridge drew him to Civil Engineering which he studied at Notre Dame and then at UC Berkeley where he received a MS in Civil/Environmental Engineering. Steve started his work career in water and wastewater engineering. After buying and remodeling a 1907 home in Oakland, he started his own residential construction company. Building new hillside homes on difficult lots became his specialty. As a long-time volunteer on the JMLT Stewardship Committee, Steve has put his construction and engineering talents to great use leading volunteer projects including building a barn, restoring a pond, building shade structures at Fernandez Ranch, and recently restoring a 100-year-old windmill at Almond Ranch. Steve currently lives in the Alhambra Valley where he appreciates the natural beauty of its surrounding oak covered hills. He is fortunate to have children and grandchildren close by and enjoys skiing, bicycling and travel.
Eliot
Hudson
Eliot serves on JMLT’s Land Acquisition and Stewardship Committee. A lifelong resident of the Bay Area, Eliot is an attorney with over 43 years of experience representing major industry clients in matters of insurance, professional liability, unfair business practices, trade secret, fraud, employment, real estate, environment and other areas. He has performed pro bono legal work for environmental and other groups. Eliot passionately believes that the magnificent beauty of our area is under imminent threat of irreversible damage and that the time to save that beauty is now. He has been active in community open space and strategic planning issues, and played a leading role in JMLT’s acquisition of Acalanes Ridge. Eliot is a Project Lead in state and regional trail building and renovation with Volunteers for Outdoor California. He has served as an adult leader with the Boy Scouts of America and Cub Scouts of America, and as a coach in numerous youth sports and academic activities. He loves all things outdoors, including backpacking, sailing, horseback riding, skiing, and scuba diving. A former trumpet player, Eliot has subscribed to the San Francisco Symphony for over 40 years. He and his wife, Mary Martha, a native of Michigan, proudly love their two adult children.
Tim
Lipman
Tim Lipman is an energy and environmental technology, economics, and policy researcher and lecturer with the University of California at Berkeley. He and his wife Susan A. Shaheen, serve as Co-Directors for the campus' Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC), based at the Institute of Transportation Studies. Tim also serves as Director of the Northern California Center for Alternative Transportation Fuels and Advanced Vehicle Technologies (NorthCAT -- see "northcat.org") effort. Tim received his Ph.D. degree in Environmental Policy Analysis with the Graduate Group in Ecology at UC Davis (1999). He also has received an M.S. degree in the technology track of the Graduate Group in Transportation Technology and Policy, also at UC Davis (1998), and a B.A. from Stanford University (1990).
Tim and Susan live directly across from JMLT’s Bodfish Preserve, where they regularly walk with their 9 and 11-year-old boys. He also leads Cub Scouts hikes through the Bodfish property. Tim’s father is the world-renowned volcanologist Peter Lipman. Tim grew up in Colorado; hiking with his father, camping, fishing and building trails with Jefferson County Open Space, an organization similar to JMLT that permanently protects old ranch lands, that provided Tim’s first job at 14-years-old.
Ted C.
Radosevich
Ted Radosevich spent his early years in Richmond before his family moved to the Alhambra Valley in Martinez. His parents bought land on the former John Swett Ranch and built their own home, settling there in 1958 with Ted and his two brothers. The home is still the family focal point, where he celebrated his 56th consecutive family Christmas dinner this last year. Ted graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and then obtained his law degree at Harvard Law School. He worked for the United States Department of Justice in Washington, DC for several years before returning to the Bay Area. Back home, he practiced law and became a partner in a major San Francisco law firm with a focus on real estate and environmental law. In 1989, he was hired as the General Counsel for the East Bay Regional Park District, where he served for nearly 25 years before retirement. During his tenure, he supervised all major legal issues and litigation facing the District and played a role in the acquisition of nearly 50,000 acres during his 25 years. In his dual role as an Assistant General Manager, he provided policy and legal guidance on four successful ballot funding measures, and overall budgetary and financial input which helped to secure a AAA bond rating for the Park District (which Ted notes is higher than the rating of the United States). At Harvard Law School he met, and later married Stephanie Smith, who continues practice in legal fields of dispute resolution and negotiation while also teaching at Stanford Law School. Their two now-adult sons hiked and ambled over Contra Costa open space for years. Preserving and expanding this type of opportunity and heritage for the future has drawn Ted to serve on the John Muir Land Trust.
Jerald M.
Weintraub
Jerry Weintraub received his B.A. in Business from the University of California, Berkeley, and his master’s degree from the Berkeley Graduate School of Business, now named the Haas School of Business. In 1992, he formed Weintraub Capital Management LP (WCM). WCM managed a series of domestic and offshore investment partnerships intended for “qualified purchasers.” Assets grew from an initial level of $4 million to over $1.2 billion. The partnerships managed by WCM invested in long and short equity securities, derivatives, and convertible bonds, focusing primarily on U.S. stocks. A bottoms-up, fundamental analysis approach to long-term stock selection was complemented by a trading orientation which focused on near to intermediate term catalysts. The funds put a strong emphasis on risk management. The initial fund achieved a compound net return on investment of 11.7% over 21 years. Investors in the fund experienced only two down years, with a maximum annual draw down of only 3% in 2008. Jerry decided to wind down the Prism Partners funds in 2012 after 20+ years of fund management. All capital was returned to existing outside investors and WCM converted to a family office focused on his own personal investing. Jerry is an active investor in commercial real estate and has interests in a number of multi-family, student housing, and office complex partnerships. He also has several early-stage venture investments. Outside of his investment activities, Jerry is on the Haas School of Business Dean Advisory Board. He is also Co-President of the Justice, Justice Foundation which focuses on education, health, and support of the needy through philanthropic endeavors. Jerry has been married to Melody Howe Weintraub for 42 years and together they have two grown sons, Max and Ben.